March of the penguins + Ivy

Penguin incognito. . .

Can you find a silly penguin?

And a serious one?

Just chilling out

So, what's a family to do when vacation falls during a rare cool and rainy week in August?

Snuggle. Lots and lots of snugglin'.

A summer visit

We spent a few vacation days at Grandma & Grandpa B's house. They have a very rare tree in their backyard in which Winnie the Pooh & friends have built a wee house at the base of the trunk. The first thing we do at each visit is check Pooh's tree for messages and special treasures.

After Ivy checked in on Winnie the Pooh she picked apples with her grandma and daddy:

Grandma made delicious apple pie and homemade applesauce moments after we picked these apples! We could still taste the late-summer sun.

Ivy's Aunt Kersten, Uncle Jim and cousin-friends, Finnian & Adalia, joined us for a scrumptious summertime dinner. And so did my very own cousin-friend, Jo. All the girl cousins had a great time together and Finnian entertained everyone with his hilarious pickle jokes.

The next day Ivy and Grandpa made some beautiful music together. Ivy loves to sit on my lap and practice her own style of picking and strumming while I play chords on my guitar, so she needed to show Grandpa all her new skills. She rocks our world.

Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa, for a wonderful time!

A Day in the Life

Have you ever had a perfect day in which you found complete bliss in all things comfortable and familiar? Yesterday was one of those days. I love slow, easy, late-summer Sundays and yesterday we started our day with breakfast at Manna Cafe, where we ran into our friend Phyllis. Ivy showed Phyllis many of her tricks and then we drove a mile north up Sherman Ave. to the Northside Farmers Market (even though we live in a city with what many consider the best & largest farmers market in the country, we prefer the smaller Northside and Eastside markets). Ivy helped us pick out eggplants and peppers and charmed the farmers with her animal sounds.

Ivy woke up from her afternoon nap and played with her daddy while I made a lovely and luscious ratatouille. (The recipe comes from the book, A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg - check out the recipe for Roasted Eggplant Ratatouille on page 124 and please tell me that this is the best ratatouille that you've ever made and eaten, too.) Ivy is a great eater and gobbled up every last spoonful of her ratatouille and chunks of baguette. She also presented us with signs that she's going to be a great cook and helper in the kitchen.

After dinner we sprawled in the living room and, after a few moments of angelic rest, Ivy ditched the halo . . .

. . . and attempted a swan dive from the loveseat.

Our day was a perfect one and we all went to bed early and content. Kevin and I are on vacation this week and we look forward to many more moments of family bliss.